It might be a stretch to suggest that there’d be no AI without John McCarthy, but at the very least, we’d likely be discussing the concept much differently. The computer scientist, who died on Sunday at 84, is credited with coining the term “Artificial Intelligence” as part of a proposal for a Dartmouth conference on the subject. The event, held in 1956, is regarded as a watershed moment for the subject. Early the following decade, McCarthy pioneered LISP, a highly popular programming language amongst the AI development community. In 1971, he won a Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery and 20 years later was awarded National Medal of Science. A more complete obituary for McCarthy can be found in the source link below.

[Thanks, Jason]

John McCarthy, AI pioneer, dies at 84 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a tumultuous third quarter the numbers are finally in for Netflix, and as expected its price hike and Qwikster madness have cost it a few customers in the US. Currently the company is reporting a total of 23.79 million customers in the US, down from 24.59 million last quarter — fewer than even it projected a few weeks ago. According to the report, it lost more “long term” customers than expected, which it attributes, again, to its poor explanation of the reasoning behind the change. To address those decisions and its inability to reach a new deal with Starz it has a few more numbers to show, as apparently only 7 percent of new customers are opting for the $15.98 hybrid package, while Starz Play content currently accounts for about six percent of streaming hours. Other competitors get it too — Amazon Prime Instant Video’s content library is referred to as “duplicative” and just a “small fraction” of what Netflix offers, as it counts on newly-signed exclusive deals to widen the gap.

We’ll dig through the report more and tune in to their earnings call in a bit, hit the source link to check out the PDF for yourself.

…developing

Netflix US subscriber count drops by 800k in Q3, 21.45 million still streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Verizon’s got a hardware-crush on teensy 3FF Micro SIMs. The carrier’s two latest 4G handsets, Samsung’s Stratosphere and Motorola’s Droid RAZR, both appear to make do with the diminutive cards. Neither, however, would be the first, as that honor was bestowed upon the carrier’s version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1. If you’re eager to call one of these devices your own, but already sport Big Red’s LTE service, then get set to bust out the scissors for a little SIM card arts and crafts. Further pictorial proof of these itsy, bitsy modules awaits you at the source.

Samsung Stratosphere, Motorola Droid RAZR to be first Verizon LTE phones with Micro SIMs? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Apple is that paranoid friend that has four deadbolts on his door and a loaded weapon in every room, then Microsoft is the over-sharer who tweets where, when and what he had for lunch — including both before and after photos (and we’re not talking about pictures of a clean plate). Redmond wants you to know about everything it does — no accomplishment is too minor for a lengthy explanation of the what and why. Take for example, portrait mode. Windows 8 will have one. We know what you’re thinking, “well I would frackin’ hope so,” but the devs want you to know this isn’t just some feature they slapped in the OS knowing people would expect it. The team studied users both familiar with and new to the tablet form factor. They looked at grip, posture and when people chose to rotate their slates. And, if you’re some weirdo who likes reading things on their side, there’s a rotation lock option. For more details hit up the source link and the video after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft talks Windows 8 portrait mode, really wants you to be proud of it (video)

Microsoft talks Windows 8 portrait mode, really wants you to be proud of it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After getting its first showing at AsiaD, we know ASUS’ Transformer sequel is super thin, powered by NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 chip and coming soon. And now we really know it, because the Transformer Prime has been gifted an official landing page, along with a requisite shadowy product shot. There’s no trace of the original’s mocha hues, which have been replaced with something brighter, and we think it looks mightily enticing. Those with a similar fetish for modular tablets can ensure they’re up-to-date by bookmarking the source link below.

Transformer Prime gets official landing page, shows mostly bezel originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s been pretty good at spreading the kernel source love. With the final Galaxy S II variant code released just a few short days ago, the time has come for the company’s IFA-unveiled inbetweener to share its special sauce. That’s right, the part tablet / part phone Galaxy Note’s headed for developer customization as its particular 1s and 0s are now up on Sammy’s site. While no official plans to port the 5.3-inch device stateside have been announced, eager devs familiar with the ways of GSM can sink their hacking hooks into the tab when it’s purported to launch overseas next month. So, what are you waiting for? Click on the source below to get a headstart on the… source.

Samsung offers up the Galaxy Note’s goodies, makes kernel source code available originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For all the buzz around Samsung’s latest hi-def smartphone, the absence of one little word has largely been glossed over. That word is “Plus” — the wizened Galaxy S II has a “Super AMOLED Plus” display, for example, whereas the sparkly Galaxy Nexus is merely “Super AMOLED.” Did the marketeers simply forget those extra hyperbolic keystrokes, or does the difference actually mean something?

Well, regrettably, it does. Samsung uses “Plus” to refer to full RGB displays, in which each pixel possesses its own trio of red, green and blue sub-pixels. Meanwhile, a non-Plus display uses a cheaper PenTile system — which forces pixels to share each other’s sub-pixels. Aside from potential hygiene issues, this results in a lower overall sub-pixel density, reduced sharpness and worse color rendition. We saw the difference clearly enough when Engadget Spanish microscopically compared the original non-Plus Galaxy S against the GS II, and now the folks at FlatPanelsHD have undertaken a more up-to-date comparison at the source link. The upshot? They calculated that, despite its 4.65-inch screen size, the Galaxy Nexus has the same number of sub-pixels as the 3.5-inch iPhone 4/4S. Think of a word with no r, g or b in it, and you eventually arrive at “disappointed.”

Update: We just added AnandTech‘s analysis at the More Coverage link. They point out that if you like the pixel density on the GS II, you should be happy with that on the Galaxy Nexus — although they don’t address color rendition.

[Thanks, Mauro]

The Galaxy Nexus’ Super AMOLED display is a minus, not a Plus originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’d heard rumblings that unlimited data for Sprint’s mobile hotspot plan was going the way of the dodo, but come November folks, it’ll be official. Data sent and received over tethering — not smartphone usage — will now be measured against a 5GB cap. The same applies to mobile broadband subscribers, who will lose “unlimited” WiMax, instead having all their bits counting towards 3GB, 5GB or 10GB buckets (as seen above). Going over your allotment in either plan naturally incurs overages, which could get pricey at 5 cents per MB, and worst of all, existing unlimited plans won’t be grandfathered in. So, start counting down those last few days of limitless bliss, as you weep peeping the full details that await at the source.

[Thanks, Darren]

Sprint to nix ‘unlimited’ from mobile broadband and hotspot plans in November originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was exactly seven years ago today that Warty Warthog, the very first release of Ubuntu (despite its 4.10 version number), hit the Internet and became and almost instant success. In those years Canonical has built the world’s most popular desktop Linux distribution and a powerful presence in the server industry thanks to its LTS (Long Term Support) releases. With Oneiric Ocelot in the books, it’s time for the team to set its sights on yet another enterprise-friendly and super stable release, 12.04 LTS — Precise Pangolin. Don’t expect any big new features or drastic UI changes, the LTS releases are all about fine tuning what’s already there. Hit up the source for a few more details on Pangolin and the more coverage link for the original Ubuntu announcement.

Ubuntu turns 7, Canonical gets to work on Precise Pangolin originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We expect to be hearing plenty more about Ice Cream Sandwich before the day is out, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still room for some last-minute leaks. We’ve already seen a couple of updated apps slip out, and we now also have what appears to be our first look at Google’s refreshed widgets for the new OS. Those include both Gmail and Calendar, as well one for your non-Gmail email, all of which boast a similar appearance that’s been further streamlined from their Honeycomb counterparts. As Android Police notes, there’s curiously no labels in the Gmail widget, although we’d assume that’s just due to the particular messages being displayed (we hope so, at least). Hit the source link below for a look at the rest.

Ice Cream Sandwich widgets leak out ahead of official launch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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